The ziggurrat and temples of Nimrud

Iraq ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 135-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Reade

The buildings on the citadel of Nimrud, ancient Kalah or Kalḫu, constitute a most impressive monument (Fig. 1; Postgate and Reade 1980), but the sporadic way in which they have been excavated leaves many questions unanswered. One puzzling area lies north and north-east of the great North-West Palace. It includes the ziggurrat, and the shrines of Ninurta, of Ištar Šarrat Nipḫi (formerly read Bēlat Māti) and of the Kidmuri (or Ištar Bēlat Kidmuri). Their interrelationships have yet to be established, and texts refer to further gods resident at Kalah. Excavations in this quarter were conducted by Layard, Rassam, Rawlinson, Loftus and Smith in the nineteenth century, and by Mallowan in the 1950s, and were resumed by staff of the Iraq Directorate-General of Antiquities in the early 1970s. This paper summarizes some of what we know or may deduce about the area, and defines some of the remaining problems; it does not include, except in passing, the relatively well-known Nabû Temple to the south. I have endeavoured to refer to all items except sherds found during British excavations in the area, but have not attempted the detailed publication which many of the objects, groups of objects, and pottery records may merit.A possible arrangement of the buildings in this area of Nimrud about 800 BC is given in Fig. 2, but it is a reconstruction from inadequate evidence. The relative dates, dimensions, locations and orientations of many excavated structures are arguable, and the plans published by different excavators cannot be fully reconciled. Major uncertainties concern the ziggurrat, the citadel-wall, the Kidmuri shrine and the area between the North-West Palace and the Ninurta shrine. There are many minor uncertainties. My reconstruction includes speculative features, while omitting some excavated walls which I regard as secondary.

1954 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 267-291
Author(s):  
Elizabeth B. Wace

The Cyclopean Terrace Building lies to the north-west of the Lion Gate on the northern end of the Panagia Ridge and faces almost due west across the valley of the Kephissos and modern main road from Corinth to Argos. It lies just below the 200 m. contour line, and one terrace below the houses excavated in 1950–51 by Dr. Papadimitriou and Mr. Petsas to the east at the same end of the ridge. The area contains a complex of buildings, both successive and contemporary, and in view of the discovery of structures both to the south-west and, by the Greek Archaeological Service, to the north-east it is likely that this whole slope was covered by a portion of the outer town of Mycenae. This report will deal only with the structure to which the name Cyclopean Terrace Building was originally given, the so-called ‘North Megaron’, supported by the heavy main terrace wall.The excavation of this structure was begun in 1923. The main terrace wall was cleared and two L.H. IIIC burials discovered in the top of the fill in the south room. In 1950 it was decided to attempt to clear this building entirely in an endeavour to find out its date and purpose. The clearing was not, however, substantially completed until the close of the 1953 excavation season, and this report presents the available evidence for the date as determined by the pottery found beneath the building; the purpose is still a matter for study, though various tentative conclusions can be put forward.


Africa ◽  
1937 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Scudder Mekeel

Opening ParagraphThe Kru, a West African Negro group, inhabit the central and southern part of Liberia. They are surrounded by the Basa peoples to the north-west, by the Grebo to the south-east and by the Putu to the north-east. The informant, Thomas Tarbour (Sieh Tagbweh), from whom the following material was derived, was a native of Grand Cess (Siglipo), a large coast town near the border of the Grebo country. The Kru, along with other related groups in that part of West Africa, have a tradition of having migrated from far to the north-east. The physical type is that of the short, stocky Bush negro. No archaeological work has been done in the region, and such ethnological material as has been collected is a mere beginning.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raja Ben Ahmed ◽  
Yasmina Romdhane ◽  
Saïda Tekaya

In this study 13 leech species from Tunisia are listed. They belong to 2 orders, 2 suborders, 4 families and 11 genera. The paper includes also data about hosts and habitats, distribution in the world and in Tunisia. Faunistic informations on leeches were found in literature and in the results of recent surveys conducted by the authors in the North East and the South of the country. The objectives of this study were to summarize historical and recent taxonomic data, and to propose an identification key for species signalized. This checklist is to be completed, taking into account the hydrobiological network of the country especially the North West region, which may reveal more species in the future


1919 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wilfrid Jackson ◽  
W. E. Alkins

During a visit to the limestone quarries at Caldon Low last September we had the good fortune to discover an interesting exposure of a quartzose conglomerate containing numerous fossils. The bed was exposed in a strong joint-face running approximately N.N.W. to S.S.E., at the northern extension of the quarry on the north-west flank of the Low, just beyond the mineral line of the North Staffordshire Railway. The altitude is about 900 feet O.D. The conglomerate apparently extended some little distance to the south-west before the opening of the quarry, as we ascertained that some 20 or 30 yards had been removed in gaining access to the limestone behind. It appears to extend for some distance round the flank of the Low towards the north-east.


1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 721 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.M Driessen ◽  
S.A Mallick ◽  
G.J Hocking

The habitat requirements of the eastern barred bandicoot, Perameles gunnii, in Tasmania were investigated with road-kill survey data and by mapping habitat features along survey routes. Road-kills of eastern barred bandicoots were most numerous in the South-east and North-west, less common in the North-east and Midlands, and very uncommon on the East Coast. Logistic regression of bandicoot presencelabsence data suggested that traffic volume is the major determinant of the road-kill distribution of eastern barred bandicoots around Tasmania. Along with traffic volume, rainfall was found to be strongly associated with the presence of eastern barred bandicoot road-kills for the state combined and for the South-east and Northeast, while along the Huon Highway in the South-east, soil depth was associated with the presence of roadkills. Favoured habitat of the eastem barred bandicoot is high-quality agricultural land with deep soils and high rainfall. It is hypothesised that clearing for agriculture in south-eastem, north-eastem and north-westem Tasmania has opened up previously unsuitable, heavily forested habitat for colonisation by eastern barred bandicoots. The resulting mosaic of pasture and remnant bush appears to provide ideal habitat for the eastern barred bandicoot. However, the majority of bandicoot habitat is found on private land, making the species vulnerable to changes in farming practices. Possible management options are briefly discussed.


1926 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.J. Jehu ◽  
R.M. Craig

Benbecula signifies “the hill of the fords,” and the island was so designated owing to the fact that there is on it only one hill of any prominence, and that it is connected with the larger islands to the north and south by fords passable only at low water. The origin of the name “Uist” is referred to in a previous communication.These islands occupy a central position in the Outer Hebrides, lying between South Uist and Harris. They are bounded on the west and north-west by the Atlantic Ocean; on the north-east by the Sound of Harris; on the east by the Little Minch, which at its narrowest part is about 16 miles broad; and on the south by a narrow channel separating Benbecula from South Uist. The area embraced in this communication extends from the Isle of Shillay in the north to the Isle of Wiay at the south-east corner of Benbecula, and includes not only the main islands of North Uist and Benbecula but also a number of smaller isles adjoining the main ones. Including the intervening channels, the total length from Shillay in the north to the southern extremity of Benbecula is about 28 miles.


Africa ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fremont E. Besmer

IntroductionThe town of Ningi is located on the western edge of the North East State of Nigeria, about 25 km from the south-eastern corner of Kano State. Old Ningi town (about 50 km from the town's present site) was founded by a Kano Qur'anic teacher-scholar, Malam Hamza, and his followers in the middle of the nineteenth century. Malam Hamza is said to have fled Kano because of political and religious disputes with the Emir of Kano which resulted in a purge of the Malam class. Moving away from the centre of Kano power to the comparative safety of the Kabara hills and the non-Hausa people who lived in them, Malam Hamza was able to establish the separatism he and his followers desired. During this period the Kabara hills were the scene of slave-raiding and warfare, constantly threatened by the Hausa-Fulani emirates which surrounded them. Fighting from the hills, the people of Old Ningi, loosely allied with their neighbours, the Butawa, Warjawa, and others, were able to maintain their independence from Bauchi, Zaria, and Kano.


The author states that the 17th of November was a fine day with a clear sky and bright sunshine: towards evening the sky became cloudy and a few drops of rain fell, but it soon again became clear, with the exception of a few fleecy clouds that here and there dimmed its brightness. At 6 h 45 m a soft and gentle light began to illumine the northern region of the sky; and at 7 o’clock a considerable portion of it was covered with dark-red streams of light towards the east; while streamers moving to and fro, arrayed in colours of golden and silvery hues, overspread the south and north. About 8 o’clock there appeared near the zenith, and upon the magnetic meridian, a ring of an elliptical form, from which proceeded in all directions towards the horizon, beams or columns of light, giving to the heavens the appearance of a splendid vault, with its top adorned with a crown or wreath; while around and within the vault were to be seen clouds of brilliant light flashing towards and from the crown or central circle of the aurora, sometimes tinged with prismatic rays, at other times intensely white and lucid. About half-past nine nearly the whole of the aerial canopy was clad with clouds of a bright red colour, casting a curious reddened hue over the objects on the surface of the earth. After a short period of time had elapsed, the red colour began to diminish in intensity, and was again replaced by the white dome. However, in various parts of the sky the red colour still remained, principally in the north-west, southwest, and north-east. Between the hours of twelve and one beams of brilliant white light commenced shooting up in the south from the horizon to the central ring or pole. The beams appeared to be at nearly equal distances from each other, the entire column of them stretching over a space equal to about one-fifth part of the visible horizon, in the form of a fan. The whole figure rapidly changed from a pure white light into a glow of brilliant colours of every tint, variegating the undulating waves as they rolled on their way to the pole of the aurora. In the course of three minutes these gave place to the white flashing radiations. During the time of the aurora there were a great number of small meteors, the direction of whose motion was from east to west, and which appeared to be considerably below the sphere of the aurora.


1933 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 437-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. Fairbairn

The rock specimens described in this paper were collected by N. W. Pirie on the Cambridge Spitsbergen Expedition of 1930,1 and by the writer on the second and larger expedition of 1932. They represent an area forming the “neck” of Central Spitsbergen between Klaas Billen Bay to the south and Wijde Bay to the north, together with an area to the east and north-east of the Mittag-Leffler Glacier, extending northwards to the upper portion of the Lomme Bay Glacier, thus including the Stubendorff Mountains to the east of Wijde Bay and the western flanks of the Chydenius Range. The 1930 expedition started from the mouth of Ebba Valley in Petunia Bay and reached Wijde Bay by way of the Ebba and Mittag-Leffler Glaciers; after reconnoitring part of the Stubendorff Glacier they returned over the Mittag-Leffler and Ragnar Glaciers, passing to the north-west of Mount Hult. Most of the ground was again covered by the 1932 expedition, but in addition a sledge party reached the highland ice of Garwood Land at the head of the Ebba Glacier, turned north along the eastern margin of the Mittag-Leffler Glacier system and passing to the west of the Newton-Chernishev massif succeeded in carrying out topographical and geological observations on the Lomme Bay Glacier, though these were much curtailed by bad weather. On the return journey the party made their way down the “Vallee de Martin Conway”, crossed the divide between the Mittag-Leffler and Ebba Glaciers, and reached Petunia Bay by the same route that they had followed on the way up.


1898 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 95-100
Author(s):  
Duncan Mackenzie

From the modern town of Kos, on the site of the ancient capital at the north-east extremity of the island, to the village of Kephalos at the southwest end is a ride of eight hours.The village stands on a chalky plateau which beyond the isthmus marks the beginning of the mountain district of south-west Kos. This in turn is a repetition on a smaller scale of the mountain region, at the other end of the island, which forms the lofty termination to the long central tableland. The highest points of the mountain district are towards the south-east where the fall to the sea is very rapid. The highest neighbouring peak, Mount Ziní, is about an hour distant from the village in a south-easterly direction, while all that lies to the north-west of the main range is high pastoral country with many torrent beds.


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